NC Piedmont

Taking its name from the French word for “foothills”, North Carolina’s Piedmont is a vast expanse of the state’s central section that encompasses rolling farmland, wide-open spaces, and many of NC’s largest cities. Here, you’ll find cultural collections, sports, shopping, nightlife, year-round golf, and one of America’s up-and-coming wine growing regions.

In Charlotte and Raleigh, you’ll find two of the country’s fastest-growing and most livable urban areas. Charlotte has a wide-ranging array of activities, from the NASCAR Hall of Fame to the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art to the US National Whitewater Center. Raleigh, together with Durham and Chapel Hill, are known as NC’s “Triangle”, and are home to several state museums, a burgeoning music scene, and three major universities (North Carolina, NC State, and Duke).

The Piedmont is also where you’ll find the “Triad” (Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point), where visitors can experience the living history exhibits of Old Salem, Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, and the International Civil Rights Museum, as well as shop for some of the best hand-crafted furniture you’ll find anywhere. In addition, this region is home to most of NASCAR’s active race shops in the Mooresville-Kannapolis area, the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, a real-life “Mayberry” in Mount Airy, exquisite pottery making in Seagrove, and world-famous golf courses in Pinehurst.

Finally, no visit to this area would be complete without a trip to the Yadkin Valley, which is quickly becoming known as an east coast hotbed for great varietal wines. With a climate closely resembling that of Northern Italy, the Yadkin Valley is rapidly gathering recognition as a place where wine aficionados can spend a day… or a week visiting vineyards, meeting local winemakers, and tasting the fruits of their labor.